1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an at-sea operating base for military or industrial applications and, more particularly, to an at-sea operating base formed from a plurality of discrete, functional operating units brought together to satisfy a specific basing requirement.
2. Background of the Invention
Presently, the United States military must rely on overseas operating bases located on foreign soil to maintain an effective presence throughout the world. As stated in an article by James R. Blaker entitled "U.S. Overseas Basing System Faces A Difficult Transition", Armed Forces Journal International, February, 1989, pages 65 through 67, continued access by the U.S. military to these overseas land bases is becoming increasingly costly from a monetary standpoint and politically more difficult to maintain.
Over the past three decades, there have been two broad categories of monetary costs associated with overseas land basing. One of these may be referred to as the "fixed" costs of basing-fixed in the sense that these costs are tied directly to the facilities and installations built and maintained at the bases. These fixed costs can vary greatly from base to base, depending on the local costs, the design of the facility and its environment. Although some fixed costs are paid for by the nation in which the base is located, the greatest portion of the fixed costs are provided for under the defense budget and are ultimately paid for by the U.S. taxpayer. It is apparent that as world-wide inflation increases, the cost to the U.S. taxpayer proportionately increases.
The other broad category of monetary costs associated with maintaining overseas land bases is referred to as "permit" costs which are paid to a foreign nation to obtain the privilege and authority to build, improve and maintain a U.S. military facility on the nations's territory. In 1990, U.S. overseas land base permit costs ran at approximately seven (7) billion dollars. The U.S. government paid approximately five (5) billion of this total, and the remainder was contributed by the host nations. To appreciate how rapidly these permit costs are rising, consider that in 1975, permit costs ran at roughly two hundred (200) million dollars, and by 1980, had risen to one (1) billion dollars. As with the increases in the fixed costs of overseas land basing, the majority of the increases in permit costs has been borne by the U.S. taxpayer.
In addition to the increased financial costs associated with the continued maintenance of overseas land bases, it has also become increasingly more difficult to deal politically with some foreign nations regarding continued U.S. access to these land bases. One need only consider Spain's rejection of a U.S. F-16 squadron in the late 1980's and the continued diplomatic sparring with the Philippines over base access and access compensation to recognize the political difficulties associated with maintaining foreign land bases.
The continued financial and political difficulties associated with the maintenance of foreign land bases has caused both the government and the industrial sector to examine alternatives to the foreign land base approach. For example, numerous concepts have been presented for airfields located at sea and for large, rectangular shaped "super islands" which in effect operate as multi-use floating complexes measuring one mile or more on a side. It has been suggested that these super islands be used as a replacement for foreign land bases. It is envisioned that the design characteristics of the super island would allow either industrial or military use.
Although the super island approach has recently been investigated to eliminate the problems associated with foreign land bases, the concept of large floating structures that can be used for floating cities, airfields or manufacturing facilities is not new. A form of the concept dates back at least to 1932 when it was seriously proposed that stable landing fields be built in the mid-Atlantic as refueling stations to extend the range of commercial aircraft. Until recently, the required technology was not available to advance the super island from the concept stage. With new developments in modular floating platform technology, however, the super island may indeed become a reality in the near future.
Although the utilization of super islands would eliminate the financial and political difficulties presently experienced with the maintenance of foreign land bases, super islands as presently envisioned would present their own set of difficulties with both construction and maintenance. For example, feasible transportation of the large modules forming the island structure from their point of manufacture to a location in international waters off the coast of a foreign land is doubtful, as is the connection of these large modules in an open seaway with today's methodology. Another anticipated limitation to the use of a structure as large as a super island containing all basing functions is its vulnerability to hostile attack.
Consequently, a need exists for a sea-based island concept which eliminates the financial and political difficulties associated with presently maintained foreign land bases and does not suffer from the construction and maintenance difficulties of the proposed super island approach.